


Me & The Bacon

by littlepinkbow



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crushes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Feels, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Sex, Sleepovers, Sleepy Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 05:12:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3315380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlepinkbow/pseuds/littlepinkbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis replaces Harry's RA and Harry loses his piglet.  Maybe it's against everything he should do, but Louis knows from the first time he sees Harry's smile that he won't ever say no to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Me & The Bacon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sailingtheLarryship](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailingtheLarryship/gifts).



The whole three weeks of summer Louis had gone to RA training he had complained about it. He wasn’t actually an RA, he was an alternate and the chance that someone would give up their free room and board because they didn’t feel like putting up with a few freshman seemed a little far fetched. If he was honest, that’s why Louis had applied to be an RA. He had just wanted to make the burden on his family less, making it easier on them and on his future student loan payments. After a wracking set of interviews, Louis had received a “Congratulations you’re an alternate!” message in his e-mail and it was slightly disheartening. 

When the summer came and went without any notice, Louis felt even more upset over it, but going to RA training had almost felt like a kick in the face. Like the university was saying, here get all ready for a thing you won’t be able to do. Needless to say, it gave Louis the opportunity to move into his room three weeks early and pick the side of the room and the closet that he wanted. Not all things were bad, considered. 

Louis was just getting out of his Statistics class when he pulled his phone that was ringing from his pocket. He didn’t recognize the number, except that it looked like a campus number, so he quickly swiped his finger over the answer button and answered the call, “Hi.” He said, pulling his hood over his head and heading back to his residence hall. 

“Hi, is this Louis Tomlinson?” The man’s voice on the other end of the phone said, clearing his throat before speaking again, “This is Ryan, the head of Residence Life.”   
“Oh, yeah, of course! Hey, how are you?” Louis said, placing the voice to the person down the line just as Ryan identified himself. 

“I’m all good. I was wondering if you could pop by the residence office when you have a moment? I wanted to talk with you about something.” Ryan said over the shuffling of papers and a few other people talking, no doubt, people in his office. 

“Yeah, I’m just out of class and I can come by right now. I’ll be there in about ten minutes,” Louis said into the phone, curious of if they wanted him to help set up an event or something else that he would say yes to even if he didn’t have any interest in it. 

After hanging up, Louis stopped in the coffee shop for a drink, because even though he was meant to be somewhere, he didn’t have a deathwish and 9:45 on a Wednesday morning was early. 

When he let himself into the office he yawned, taking another sip of his drink and walking up to the front desk where another RA he recognized, he thought her name was Sophia, was sitting. “Hi, I’m Louis. Ryan called me.” He said, resting his cup on the counter and looking at the girl in front of him. 

“Oh, right of course you are! RYAN!” Sophia’s voice got louder as she yelled back towards the open office, “Louis is here!!” And okay, things were definitely different in this office. 

Louis heard something that sounded like ‘send him back’ before Sophia was nodding towards the back off and telling him to head back there. 

“Thank you,” Louis said, picking up his coffee and heading down the small hallway into what was Ryan’s office. Or maybe was his office before construction paper threw up all over it. “Uh, hi.” Louis spoke as he looked up to Ryan who was behind his desk in a hooded jumper and was glaring inconspicuously at his computer in front of him. 

“Louis! Great to see you! Have a seat, get comfortable. Sorry about the mess, everyone is getting ready for next month’s bulletin changes and it seems my office is the central point for everything everyone doesn’t want!” He was slightly off and definitely a little bit wild, but Louis imagined being in his shoes you would have to be. 

“It’s nice to see you too,” Louis said curiously, shifting a bit of the paper as he sat down and looking across the table at Ryan, “It’s nice that everyone feels comfortable enough with you to turn your office into a paper mache project.” Louis said with a soft chuckle and really was still so confused as to why he was here. 

“Well, anyway,” Ryan said, finally tearing his gaze away from his computer, “I wanted to talk to you and see if you’d be interested in taking a role as a resident assistant in Welch Hall. One of the RAs there has been removed and you’re the first on our list for an open spot. It’s as I’m sure you know, a hall of first year males, and you’d be on the third floor, north hall. I understand if you’re settled into your room and don’t want to switch now, so don’t feel obligated to say yes, but if you decide to take the position we will retroactively cover your room and board for the semester.” 

Louis was sure that his eyes lit up at the words, “Really? When would I need to move? I mean, I just would have to pack, but yeah that would be great!” He said quickly and all he could think was that he said his room and board would be retroactively covered. He almost couldn’t wait to get out and call home, let his mum know just what had happened. 

“Well that was easy enough,” Ryan said with a laugh, digging through a stack of papers on his desk until he came up with a blue folder, holding it, “Here’s all your paperwork, I would just need you to sign off on confirming your hall and all of that and then I can give you your keys. We would like to have you moved in as soon as possible, but I understand if you can’t get to it until the weekend. Class comes first as you know,” Ryan looked almost relieved and Louis was sure that relief relayed in his own face. 

“I don’t have classes tomorrow, I only have them on Monday, Wednesday and Friday so I will try to get packed up and moved tomorrow. I would rather do it sooner than later.” Louis said and he realised in an instant that he was probably rambling so he reached for the folder and quickly started looking through it before digging a pen from his satchel and messily signing his name across the bottom line. 

“Just be sure to stop back in when you’re all moved and settled and you can return your key to your current room to me. I’ll take care of everything else for you and you should receive a note from the finance office about the credit,” Ryan said and his voice was relieved as he reached across his desk to put the key to Louis’ new room into his hand. 

“Thank you very much. I really appreciate the opportunity.” Louis said graciously, standing up and taking his key before he left the office and went back to his room. He called his mum along the way and then texted Liam, his roommate, to see if he could help him get his stuff moved. 

As Louis’ luck (as of late anyway) would have it, Liam was looking for a reason to get out of his evening class and therefore spent the evening helping Louis move his things. When the two boys had been randomly assigned to live together in their freshman year they had started the year disliking one another, but by the end of the year they were best of mates and they were both going to miss living with one another. Louis promised he would still hang out with Liam constantly and what felt like a whirlwind later, Liam was leaving Louis’ new room and Louis was collapsing on his new bed. 

It took him about two weeks to get adjusted to his job, to figure out the ins and outs of it and considering he had completely counted himself out for the position, he thought he was doing pretty good. He had just finished putting up his most recent bulletin, points on safe drinking and he went back to his room, ready to have a shower and rest a bit. He had taken heed to the advice given to him and posted a small note next to his door with not only his class schedule, but his “open door” hours, where any of the residents all the hall could come by if they were having an issue. 

Louis got out of the shower and pulled on a pair of joggers, his wet hair dripping down the back of his neck before he pushed his towel over his head and pulled a black t-shirt down from his closet, pulling it on. He made his way over to his door and pulled it open, returning to his desk to start studying for his Sociology exam. He was slightly nervous about the idea of starting exams and being responsible for his hall, but he was hoping it would be a quiet night and he could get through a lot of studying. 

Alas, Murphy’s Law would not let Louis have a quiet night when a mop of brunette curls attached to a lanky boy with splotched red cheeks and an almost terrified expression on his face nearly ran into Louis’ room, looking around on the floor and then quickly backing himself out of the room. When the boy looked up, he saw Louis and his eyes went wide, almost terrified before his voice came out in a near screech, “Oops!” The boys hands which were just as lanky as the rest of his body reached up and pushed through his curls, bouncing back from the intrusion just as soon as his fingers were gone. 

“Hi?” Louis said looking up from his book at the boy in his doorway, looking like he might’ve just walked into the wrong room and he gave him a smile, hopefully warm enough to let him know he wasn’t bothered by his coming in. Louis closed his book and turned in his chair, hoping to get a chance to speak to the boy, but instead he was met by a sheepishly smile and the boy turning to run from the room. 

It was probably something Louis should have looked into a little further, but his studying called him back and he buried his nose back in the book, determind to memorise everything he possibly could. Nearly an hour later, Louis heard a terrible screeching sound, like someone was dragging metal across the floor, and the sound nearly caused him to jump out of his skin. 

Pushing back from his desk, he pulled a jumper on and padded down the hallway in his sock clad feet. Again, he heard the noise and changed his direction. It sounded like it was coming from the lounge. Or maybe it was the laundry-- it was definitely the wash room, he confirmed when the screech started again. 

Louis took half a second to be terrified of what was going on before he jogged down the hall, gasping when he saw a boy’s jean covered bottom, leaning over the washer, which had clearly been moved away from the wall, his naked back and hopefully his head were ducked behind the washer. 

“Uh, is everything okay?” Louis asked, stepping inside of the wash room, his fingers twisting inside the cuff of his jumper. 

The boy jumped at Louis’ voice, his body flinging straight up and when it did, his hand revealed the t-shirt that had been on him when he ducked into Louis’ room. “Sorry. Don’t move, in case it gets out!” He said, still almost wild. 

“Until what?” Louis asked and now he was definitely confused. His mind rifled through what he was supposed to do when you found a student with a drug problem, “I hope you don’t think your laundry is going to escape?” He asked, his voice taking on a soft and almost gentle tone. 

“It’s not my laundry,” He said with a gasp and the following squealing sound made the boys eyes light up. “Don’t let him out!” He shouted, tossing his shirt to the ground and making a dive across the floor to catch the source of the squealing. 

Louis blinked slowly, his mouth going dry as he looked at the -- was that a piglet? “Is that, are you, who are you?” Louis finally decided on asking, looking down at the boy, whose chest was red from exertion and he was holding onto the big with one arm, the other hand reaching to rub the elbow of said arm. 

“M’Harry! And this is Squeakers! Suppose he doesn’t really squeak though, does he?” Harry asked, looking up at Louis with a fond smile on his lips, holding the pig up just slightly. “Think you might have a plaster? My elbow is wrecked,” He said with a pout that could stop the world from turning. 

“You realise you aren’t meant to have animals in your room, don’t you?” Louis asked down at the boy before giving him a nod to the plaster question, because in each RA’s room was a small first aid kit - for bumps and bruises that didn’t require medical attention. 

“It’s fine though because the RA doesn’t know. Long as he doesn’t find out it’s really fine. He usually doesn’t run like this.” Harry explained, triumphantly, situating himself on the floor and finally getting himself upright, looking much like a giraffe on it’s feet for the first time as he found his balance. 

“Seems he’s just found out. I’m Louis, your new RA.” Louis said softly, now looking up at Harry that he was standing up and giving him a shrug, because he really wasn’t sure what to do from here. He didn’t even know Harry and he knew that it would probably break his heart to take his pig away from him, but he also knew what the rules were.   
Harry’s eyes widened and he pulled the pig closer to his chest, protectively like a mother bear with it’s cub and he blinked quickly a few times, either to hold his tears back or to convince his eyes to water. “I… didn’t know Martin was gone,” Harry mumbled out, ducking his head down to nuzzle his nose against the top of the piglet’s head. 

“Been gone a few weeks now.” Louis said curiously and he couldn’t help but watch the way Harry interacted with the piglet. “He didn’t have an issue with you having this.. er.. Squeakers?” 

“No, never, Squeakers is sacred!” Harry said proudly, holding the pig up like Simba in the Lion King and then thrusting it forward into Louis’ arms, grinning at the shocked state it left the other boy in. 

Louis gasped a little and carefully wrapped his hands around the piglet, the small pink snout turning up to almost sniff at Louis and okay - maybe it was at least a little cute. “Sacred? I don’t know about that..” Louis trailed off as his focus fell to the pig, a small smile on his lips as he watched it. 

“Would you let me keep it? Please, please? Please Lou?” Harry asked, poking his lip out into the best pout that he could manage and it definitely was a very good pout. 

“I guess yeah. Just. Don’t tell any of your floor mates I know about him. And you’ve got to visit me with him at least once a week.” Louis said finally, shrugging and holding the piglet back out to Harry and he silently told himself that if that was the worst thing that happened on his floor he was in good shape. 

“Thank you, Thank you, thank you!” Harry sing-songed, spinning around in a few circles, his curls flopping and when he came to a stop he pulled the piglet closer into his chest. “I better get him back to bed anyway, all this running around I bet that he’s exhausted.” Harry explained, licking over his lips and shooting a grin in Louis’ direction before turning to walk out of the wash room. 

Louis stood silently, watching the boy leave the room and he was definitely quite dumbfounded. In training, they had prepared them how to deal with drunk students, students on drugs, angry students, upset students, fighting students, but somehow they had managed to miss the section on adorable students with piglets. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," Louis muttered under his breath as he pushed his fingers through his hair and went back to his room, because after all, he had an exam to study for. 

The next day, Louis returned from his exam (which he rocked, thank you very much) and as soon as he got back to his room he shut his door and shuffled down the list of contacts in his phone until he reached his mom and he tapped on her cell number to call. 

One, two, three rings and "Fizzie don't do that! You're going to burn the house down, I'll take care of it." Louis' mum, Jay, shouted down the line inadvertently before speaking to him, "Hi Lou! How are you?" 

Louis couldn't help but grin at the way he knew his family hadn't changed. Even though he wasn't there, he knew his mum was buried under all his siblings and there was a part of him that missed it. "I am good. How are you? The girls and Ernie?" He asked, twisting his hands together and dropping them down onto the desk, his feet finding their place on the ground as he pushed the chair back the small amounted it actually rocked. 

"All good, love. Can't wait for you to be home for a bit so we can all see you," Jay said warmly and her voice was full of love and understanding in a way that only a mothers voice could be. "Now, I know there's something wrong because otherwise you only text to check in. Is everything alright?"

"I sort of met someone," Louis said and his words were absolutely cringeworthy, mostly because that wasn't what he was planning on saying at all. 

"Have you? Are they nice?" Jay asked, her word choice careful. Louis hadn't ever come out to her, but it was sort of an unspoken agreement between the two - she didn't need Louis to confirm what she already knew. 

"He lives on my hall. I literally like, only met him. I've had one conversation with him and I feel so fond. I am so stupid." Louis said, sighing inwardly at himself and closing his eyes for just a moment. 

"Don't think that's stupid at all, love. How'd you meet?" Jay asked and down the line, Louis could hear a click of the door, meaning Jay had left Dan alone to man all of the children so she could have some time alone to talk to Louis. 

"He's got a piglet? An actual live piglet. And it escaped his room. He calls it Squeakers. I should have told him he couldn't keep it, but he's got this big bright smile and all these curls. His name is Harry." Louis said with a sigh, looking down at his hands that were still twisted in on themselves. 

“Do you think you could get in trouble for allowing him to keep it?” Jay asked, but there was no disappointment in her voice. 

“Don’t know. Imagine so. Could just say I didn’t know he had it.” Louis said softly, shrugging his shoulders and letting a breath of air escape his lips. “I mean, I shouldn’t be fond. Because he lives on my hall and I bet that’s worse than knowing he has a piglet. Plus he probably doesn’t even like people like me.” 

Jay exhaled quietly, her fingers flipping through a catalogue as she listened to Louis. “Maybe just try to get to know him. But don’t let him break your heart,” She added warmly, and of course she would because after all, Louis was her baby. 

“Thanks mum. I’ll let you go so the kids don’t run Dan off,” Louis said with a laugh, “Love you. I miss you guys.” He added thoughtfully and normally he really wasn’t the type to speak about his feelings so openly, but at the moment, he really did miss his family. 

Ringing off, Louis leaned forward, his head falling against his desk with a little more than a thud sound and he closed his eyes, his head feeling almost like his brain was reverberating inside of it. The worst part was, he really didn’t know anything about Harry, actually, without scanning over his roster he wouldn’t even know which room Harry was staying in. 

Harry knew he was going to be late, so he grabbed his phone from his pocket, texting his roommate, Niall, to let him know he would be there in just a few minutes. He felt awful being late for the hall meeting, seeing as it was just three days ago his new RA had decided to let him keep his piglet and now this. Pushing his fingers through his hair, Harry jogged across campus, his breaths coming in quick short spurts because really he couldn’t be late. 

Louis was slightly nervous about the hall meeting, almost nervous that somehow everyone on the hall would know that Harry had a piglet and that he had said yes to letting him keep the piglet and therefore no one on the hall would have any respect for him. Needless to say, there were 39 bodies stuffed into the lounge at the end of their wing staring back at him. And only one was missing. Harry. Of course. Louis sighed softly and shrugged before speaking, “Alright, I just wanted to get you guys together rather quickly to let you know that I am your new RA. I didn’t want you all feeling like you didn’t know anything about me or even know who I was, so that’s why we are here.” Louis took a deep breath before speaking again, “I play on the football team. And I am from Doncaster. And if I am not in class or at practice, I am probably at my best friend Liam’s. But I’ve posted my number and stuff on my door so if you ever need me--” 

Harry hadn’t meant to interrupt Louis, not really, but when he pushed the door open and nearly fell into the lounge, panting for breath, every set of eyes in the room was on him. “Sorry I’m late. My lab ran late.” He said with a shrug, his curls wild and escaping into his face as he nearly tripped over his own feet landing in a lump next to a boy with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes who he knew as his roommate. 

“Oh, fuck mate! I forgot to tell you, Harry said he was going to be late!” Niall said wildly, looking from Harry to Louis and back to Harry again before shrugging and dropping his hands down at his side with a laugh, shifting awkwardly when he realised all the attention in the room was on him. 

“No worries then, is it?” Louis said and he was immediately hoping that the room had just gotten warmer. That someone had just flipped the heat on because otherwise the heat in his cheeks meant he was blushing and that was simply unacceptable. “Was just letting everyone know how to get in touch with me. I’m hoping we can have hall get togethers one a month or so and we can get pizza and hang out and it’s cool if you don’t want to come…” Louis trailed off and he really hadn’t expected everyone to pay this close of attention to him. “That being said if you ever need anything even if it’s someone to come pick you up when you’re drunk, feel free to call me and I’ll help you out. Hopefully I can return you all safely to your families at the end of term so,” Louis shrugged and now his cheeks were definitely red; he shouldn’t have dropped his Public Communications class last term. “If no one has any questions, that’s really all I have,” Louis shrugged and tucked his fingers into the pockets of his joggers. 

Rather than anyone asking questions everyone sort of gave Louis a general thanks and then began to file out of the room, but 10:30 at night for a college student was opportune time to be doing anything really, anything other than hanging out with your RA. 

Louis waited just a few minutes, letting everyone file out before he did before heading for his room and his term paper that was waiting for him. Pushing his door nearly closed, Louis pulled off his jumper and tossed it in the general vicinity of his laundry basket before settling on his bed with his laptop and a stack of papers to get to work. He was definitely behind for his liking, but adjusting to all of the changes in his schedule had made him feel like he was nearly behind in everything. 

Harry had only been in his room about an hour after the meeting before he cleaned out his satchel, sitting Squeakers carefully inside and heading down the hallway to Louis’ room. He had promised the other that he would let him visit with the pig and he felt bad for showing up late to the meeting, so that’s what left him, barefoot and knocking gently on Louis’ door. 

“It’s open you can just come in,” Louis called in the direction of the door, clicking over the save option on his paper and tilting his laptop screen down as he pushed it towards the end of his bed and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. 

“It’s just me,” Harry said as he let himself inside, “Harry, I mean.” The boy said, pushing the door softly closed until he heard a click and twisting his lips up into a smile. “Are you busy?” He asked looking up and for once his hair was pulled back in an elastic, keeping his curls from falling into his face. 

“Sure what’s up? I was just working on a paper.” Louis said plainly, standing from his bed and crossing his room to where his futon was, pausing only for a moment to think about grabbing a jumper and then deciding against it as he continued on. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, it’s just. I brought Squeakers.” Harry said finally, situating himself in Louis’ floor on top of the red rug Louis’ mum had sworn he needed in his room. Once he was seated, he flipped the flap of his satchel open and pulled Squeakers out, sitting him down on the carpet. The piglet huffed, almost an indignant noise, if a pig could make one of those, before sniffing around Louis’ floor. 

“Oh! Well I always have time for my favourite piglet on my floor,” Louis said with a laugh before sitting down on the floor, his back against the futon and he flipped his right hand over, holding it out to the pig - just like you’d do to a dog. “Does your roommate really not mind you having him?” He said curiously, and that was just the beginning of the questions he wanted to ask. 

“Only piglet on your floor.” Harry corrected with a smile before digging down into his satchel and returning with a few snacks, handing one over to Louis to convince the pig to visit with him. “And Niall doesn’t even notice, I don’t think. I was gone for like 4 days when my boyfriend from back home broke up with me and Niall didn’t even notice that I wasn’t ever back.” He said with a shrug, flicking his tongue over his bottom lip and watching Squeakers carefully. “It’s nice sometimes. But annoying others.” 

Louis opened his mouth to speak before smacking his lips back together and swallowing. He hadn’t exactly thought he would find out about Harry’s sexual preference so easily but he definitely wasn’t complaining at all. “Well I’m sorry about your boyfriend. Or your roommate. Or both I guess,” He shrugged and leaned back against the futon, stretching his feet out in front of him and watching the piglet sniff across his floor. 

“Both are okay, my boyfriend back home was an idiot. And Niall’s there when I need him, so that’s important,” Harry said with a smile and he clapped his hands in front of him to get Squeakers attention, but the only thing it managed to do was startle Louis. “Oh god, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how you teach him commands or anything like that.” 

“Where in the hell did you even find him? Like, I haven’t ever seen the pig cage in the corner of the pet shop? I thought most people got dogs or cats or hamster or summat?” Louis said, settling back down from Harry startling him and resting his hands on top of his own thighs. 

“My mum got him for me as a gift. I don’t know where she got him though.” Harry shrugged, settling for sitting up on his knees and scooting over to pick up the piglet, sitting back down and resting him in his lap. “He’s not much trouble though, he’s got a box in my room and he uses that and mostly other than that he just sniffs around and he sleeps by my pillow at night.” 

“That’s wild honestly. My mum gets me like pants and socks.” Louis said with a laugh and a shrug before closing his eyes for a moment and biting down on his bottom lip. “As long as he’s not noisy or making a big mess I guess I can’t really see any problem with him being here.” 

“Thank you. I really am glad you’re ok-” Harry was saying, but he stopped quickly, letting out a yelp and an “Ouch!” before shoving the piglet away from him. “He bit me!” Harry said accusingly, a pout immediately appearing on his lips as he reached up to put his bitten finger in his mouth. 

“Uh, no!” Louis said, reaching forward at just the last second to grab Harry’s hand and keep him from putting his finger in his mouth. “That’s disgusting, you’re not putting pig saliva in your mouth that’s vile.” Louis said, looking at his hand around Harry’s before pointing over towards his sink. “Go wash. Then you can look at it.” His voice was firm when he spoke to Harry, still friendly, but it had the hint of authoritative to it. 

“Okay, fine.” Harry spoke and his pout hadn’t subsided at all. “He’s such a mean pig. I don’t like him anymore,” He was mumbling uselessly, turning on the tap and sticking his hands under as he began to wash them. 

“That’s a lie,” Louis said, turning to lay down flat on his floor, smiling when the pig wandered over to him. Flicking through his phone for a moment, Louis hummed softly before locking his phone and sitting it on the ground next to him, “Harry, do you hand feed Squeakers?” He asked, his voice curious as he watched Harry who was now drying his hands. 

“Yeah, I mean. He doesn’t like to eat from his bowl.” Harry said with a shrug and that wasn’t a lie. Every time he put food in a bowl for Squeakers, he didn’t eat, he just laid near the bowl and looked forlorn. The piglet’s sadness radiated from being reduced to eating from a dish on the floor and Harry wasn’t exaggerating -- not at all. 

“Says here,” Louis voice was soft as he pointed to his phone on the floor, “That if you do that they will bite. Guess he’s expecting your hand to always have food in it. Turns out you’re spoiling the bacon, mate.” 

Harry gasped loudly and looked in Squeakers direction as if Louis’ choice of words would have actually offended the pig. “Don’t say that around him!” Harry said, his pout traded in for something more faux-annoyed as he walked over to sit down next to Louis, laying back on the floor as well. “I’m not spoiling him. He just gets sad.” 

“Gets spoiled.” 

“Sad.” 

Squeakers had found his place between the two boys, wandering back and forth from one to the other for attention before finally laying on the floor between the two, his breathing getting quiet as it evened out and, yeah, the pig had fallen asleep. 

“Harry. I’ve got to finish writing my paper.” Louis said, lifting his head and he was purposely being more than quiet so as not to disturb the pig. 

Harry hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but whenever he stayed still for too long in one place he ended up asleep and his eyes were closed, his lips parted just slightly and his head tipped to the side just slightly and he was definitely asleep. 

“Of course.” Louis said, biting back a laugh and getting up from the floor, looking down at the boy and the pig who were spread out on his floor. Grabbing one of his extra blankets and spreading it over the two before returning to his bed to work on his paper. 

Rather than working on his paper, Louis loaded iChat and scrolled down the list of names until he saw, Liam’s, clicking on it and sending him a quick message. 

Louis: mate, r u still up? 

Liam: yeah, what’s up?

Louis: one of the guys who lives in my hall is asleep on my floor. with his pig. 

Liam: his what? 

Liam: pig? 

Liam: like a stuffed pig?

Louis: nah, like an actual pig. his mum got it for him and i couldn’t tell him no could i? 

Liam: so ur into him? 

Louis: i didn’t say that

Liam: you didn’t not say that either. 

Louis: just because you took a philosophy class doesn’t make u a philosopher. 

Liam: so ur into him?

Louis: whatever, he’s hot. 

Louis: i’ve gotta finish my paper, i’ll text u tomorrow and we can hang out. 

Liam: ok cool 

Louis signed off his iChat, knowing if he didn’t he would end up chatting to his friends all night instead of doing his paper and he focused back on the paper, flipping through the articles he had printed that were laying on his bed and focusing in on what he needed to get done. 

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he was nearly done, just finishing his concluding paragraph when a hand landed on his shoulder and nearly caused Louis to jump out of his skin. “What the -- Oh!” Louis said when he looked up and saw Harry, his hair flat against his head on one side and his eyes full of sleep, “Jesus. You scared me.” Louis said softly, clicking save on his document and pushing the top of his laptop shut and off of his lap to look up at Harry. 

“I fall asleep really easily,” Harry said with a yawn and a shrug before glancing to the still sleeping pig and then back to Louis. “Budge over would you? You need to get some sleep too and I forgot my key in my room.” He said, trying to be as convincing as possible even though he felt like his room key was burning a noticeable hole in his pocket. 

“What?” Louis asked and his tone was more than confused, his hands moving to rub over his eyes as he exhaled softly and let a quiet yawn escape. “Okay? I mean, I can get you a spare key to your room?” He said softly, gathering up his papers and piling them on top of his laptop because Harry was right, he did need to get some sleep. 

Harry’s cheeks flushed deep red and he looked down at his feet, biting down on his bottom lip and had Louis really just told him he couldn’t sleep over? “I just.. I didn’t want to wake up Squeakers.” His normally slow tone took on an even slower and careful intonation. “I’ll just wake him up. It’s okay.” He stepped back slowly from Louis waiting for him to say something -- anything. 

Louis blinked quickly at Harry and he hadn’t been asleep, but sometimes when Louis got too involved on working on a paper he forgot how to interact with people and that clearly was happening and causing a mess between himself and Harry. “No, I mean you can stay it’s fine. I meant tomorrow, once you’re awake if you need a key. I can get you a key.” Stumbling over his words, Louis hoped that he would be able to save the situation. He lifted up his laptop and papers and handed them to Harry for him to sit aside before scooting into his bed and turning the opposite direction of Harry, facing towards his wall. 

Harry took the papers and nodded eagerly, “Oh I thought you were just trying to kick me out.” He said shyly before wasting no time in climbing in the bed and wrapping the blankets around them, facing in the same direction as Louis but scooted back some near the edge of the bed so he wasn’t touching Louis, even if he wanted to. 

“No sorry.” Louis sounded almost awkward, not sure if he should turn to face Harry, if he should cuddle into him, if he should say anything; so he settled on none of those things, closing his eyes and wishing himself off to sleep. It really wasn’t hard for him to fall asleep, he had been awake too early that morning and it had been a long day. Sleep came easy to him, relaxing his shoulders and evening his breaths out into steady, low breaths. 

Harry wasn’t sure what had given him the confidence to actually get into bed with his RA, what had given him the confidence to think that Louis would even want him in bed with him, but he curled his fingers around the blankets, closing his eyes and trying not to think about it. He was tempted to reach forward and wrap an arm around Louis, but what if Louis didn’t want that. What if he made Louis uncomfortable simply by being there and what if Louis never spoke to him again. Harry sighed at himself, closing his own eyes and curling his fingers a bit tighter around the comforter, determined to fall asleep. 

Louis was awoken by his alarm far sooner than he really wanted to be awake and between himself and his alarm clock was Harry, curled up on his bed with the comforter pulled up around his mouth. Yawning and stretching his arms over his head, Louis pushed himself up a little and reached over, attempting to reach over Harry to smash his hand down on the alarm clock. 

Of course, with Louis’ luck nothing went according to plan. Rather than smashing his hand down on the alarm clock, he smashed his hand down on absolutely nothing, pushing on Harry as he did and in some comedic turn of his life events, Louis and Harry both tumbled out of the bed, landing in a heap on the floor. 

“Shit, shit, shit are you okay?” Louis said, trying to get himself off of Harry as quickly as he could. 

Harry was amazingly, still nearly entirely asleep. “M’fine.” He mumbled, reaching up and scrubbing his hands over his face gently. “What did you do that for?” His voice was thick with sleep as he spoke and his eyes scrunched up to avoid the sunlight coming through the window. 

“Didn’t mean to,” Louis explained nervously, finally reaching up and shutting the alarm up before speaking again, “Was reaching for that but I guess you were well off the edge of the bed.” Louis’ cheeks were stained red with embarrassment and he crossed his legs, sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce on his floor and looking at Harry who was wrapped up in the comforter. 

“No worries, mate. I’ve got to get back anyway, need a shower before class. And squeakers needs a wee I’m sure.” Harry said, pushing the comforter off of his shoulders and getting up, making his way over to pick up his piglet before leaving Louis’ room and leaving him nearly dumbfounded sitting on the ground. 

Louis reached for his comforter, wrapping it around his shoulders and yawning and he was just now noticing how cold he was. Cold, because somehow, Harry had managed to steal all of the blankets off of him during the night. Truly unbelievable, he was. 

The days coming up would prove to be very busy for Louis, trying to finish all his studies, making it to all of his football practices and being there for the few residents of his hall that needed him for various reasons. He was just settling in to his Sociology class on the following Tuesday when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Glancing up to see that the teacher wasn’t there yet, he pulled his phone out to check the message. It was from a number he didn’t know and it said, “Bacon and I request you for lunch today, if possible.” Louis smiled down at the message before scrunching up his nose. He typed out a reply and hid his phone on his lap so he could reply to Harry throughout his whole class and not pay attention to anything else. 

Louis: i’ve heard pigs can read, may want to be careful on that. 

Harry: Think he’s fine, mate. Anyway, about lunch? 

Louis: did you know pigs don’t like to be carried? but they do like to be snuggled! 

Harry: Are you the pig whisperer? 

Louis: funny. no. i just know how to use google. 

Harry: Are you avoiding having lunch with me by researching my illegal pet? 

Louis: no. lunch is good. i’ll call and order a takeaway pizza so we can eat in my room and bacon can come along, if that’s ok. think pepperoni would offend him? 

Harry: Hope not. It’s my favourite. 

Louis: i’ll see you at my room in 45 minutes? i’m in class. 

Harry: Pay attention. 

The grin that was spread from one side of Louis’ face to the other was definitely not thanks to the captivating sociology lecture that he was sitting through and he truly couldn’t wait to get out of class and hang out with Harry. He had considered asking him on a proper date, one where they left the pig behind but he really wasn’t sure that Harry was ready for that yet. Or maybe he wasn’t ready for it yet. Or maybe, mostly, he was just scared. 

As soon as Louis’ class was over, he rang the pizza shop and ordered them a pizza, mozzarella bites and two sodas and tucked his phone back into his pocket as he headed back to dorm. 

“Lou! Wait! How are you?” A voice called from behind Louis, a voice that belonged to Zayn, one of the many sports medicine students who was often at the football games taking care of the players.   
“Zayn, hey what’s up mate?” Louis asked as he spun around to see the male, who had really become one of Louis’ closest friends thanks to a knee injury. “I’m just headed back to my hall to have lunch with one of my friends. Will you be at the game on Friday night?” 

“Wouldn’t miss it would I?” Zayn said with a grin, clapping his hand on Louis’ back and shrugging his shoulders some. “I’m on my way to the gym, I just wanted to say hey,” He said, “I’ll see you Friday though.” He nodded as he headed in an opposite direction of Louis. 

Louis waved at Zayn before continuing back to his room, more than buzzing about lunch with Harry, about having his paper done a few days early, and about their game on Friday night -- game weeks were Louis’ favourite weeks. 

Harry hadn’t meant to be waiting outside of Louis’ room but he was a combination of slightly eager and restless so he was carefully jostling the bag that Squeakers was hidden away in, trying to make sure he didn’t fall over or get hurt, even if the pig was just curled up in the corner of the satchel peacefully sleeping. 

Louis jogged up the steps to his floor, pushing his fingers through his hair as he stepped out of the stairwell, seeing Harry standing awkwardly at his door. “Hey, sorry. I ran into a friend.” Louis said sheepishly, making his way over and retrieving his key to open the door, letting Harry in before him. “Pizza should be here any time.” 

“No worries, I just didn’t want to sit down on my bed cause I would have fallen asleep,” Harry’s words were honest as he spoke, but his cheeks still managed to flush a deep red colour as he stepped inside of Louis’ room. 

Louis followed Harry inside, putting his bag down after he shut his door and looking at Harry. “Come on then! I want bacon!” Louis said clapping his hands together and watching as Harry fumbled to retrieve the piglet from his bag. 

“Stop calling him that, he doesn’t like it.” Harry said with a pout, managing to wake the small piglet as he dropped the satchel to the ground, his hands holding the piglet close to his chest. 

“Squeakers!” Louis said fondly, making his way closer to Harry and reaching out to gently rub one of his fingers over Squeakers head who immediately responded in a squeal. 

“No don’t do that he doesn’t like it! That’s why he’s crying.” Harry was a panic, pulling the pig closer to him and staring Louis down. 

“That’s not crying, Harry. That means he’s happy. I looked it up. Doesn’t he squeal when you get back from being away?” 

“Well yeah, but I thought he just wanted to be left alone,” Harry said, still holding the piglet close but raising an eyebrow as he squealed again when Louis reached for him. “He likes you?” Harry questioned slowly, holding Squeakers out to Louis. 

“That’s what it said online. Did you know it took years and years to breed piglets down to be so small.” Louis added as he easily accepted the piglet into his arms, pulling him close to his chest just as Harry had done and nuzzling his nose down against the top of it’s head. 

“Are you studying pigs?” Harry asked, more amused than curious as he looked over at Louis and then stretched his arms out in front of him. “I could go down and get the pizza when it gets here. So you guys can have some alone time.” He winked as he spoke, poking his tongue out at Louis. 

“Actually that would be great.” Louis knew he would be almost calling Harry’s bluff by sending him to get the pizza but he really didn’t mind. “Here’s money to pay for it and now that you’ve mentioned it it should be here by now.” He said as he reached into his pocket to pull out some notes to hand to Harry for the pizza before returning his attention to the piglet. 

Harry rolled his eyes before grabbing Louis’ room key and letting himself out of the room to go get the pizza. He wasn’t sure what it was about Louis, but the fact that he seemed so nonchalant on such a constant basis was enough to drive Harry nearly mental. Harry wanted nothing more than to scoop Louis up and kiss him; meanwhile Louis seemed like he only dealt with Harry to be closer to the pig. 

Louis laid back on the floor, tugging the waist of his hoodie down and laughing softly at Squeakers who had made his way over Louis’ chest and was attempting to burrow his way into the pocket of Louis’ jumper. “You’re such a silly pig, aren’t you?” Louis said, reaching to gently rub his fingers over the pig’s back, his eyes closing as he relaxed, waiting for Harry to return. 

When Harry returned from getting their pizza, it was to find Louis stretched out on the floor with Harry’s pig curled up on his stomach, Louis’ hand’s carefully bracketing the pig to make sure he didn’t fall. “Seems like you’re going to end up stealing my piglet.” Harry announced as he clicked the door shut, making his way over to sit the pizza on Louis’ futon before sitting down next to it. 

“Nah, I won’t steal him, we just like to hang out and talk about you. Don’t we Bacon?” Louis’ voice became almost affectionate as he spoke down at the pig, a smile on his lips when he looked up at Harry. “Thanks for walking downstairs, I’m exhausted from practice this morning.” 

“Practice?” Harry asked curiously, watching Louis as he sat up and let the pig wander off, sniffing about in Louis’ room (and hopefully not leaving a poo anywhere). 

“Footie.” Louis said, scrunching his nose and reaching for the pizza box to pull it open. “Oh, right, had you not been late to my meeting, you would have known I’m on the football team.” He said, almost chiding Harry, but the smile on his lips gave away that he was joking. 

“I told you I was sorry about that. I’m not ever late to anything, honestly.” Harry said sheepishly, reaching for a piece of pizza when Louis offered and beginning to eat it. “When’s your next game?” He asked, returning to his normal curious, happy state. 

“Saturday, actually. It’s here too.” Louis said with a nod, crossing his legs and then stretching them out in front of himself as he began to eat his own slice of pizza. 

“Maybe I’ll get some of my mates to come along with me,” Harry said biting down on his lip and shrugging softly, “I mean, for uni spirit and all of that,” He added, not wanting to look too eager to watch Louis. 

“Course you should! It’s an important part of being in uni and all,” Louis said with a smile, focusing on his pizza again as he ate a little more. 

“Definitely is. I am glad that you invited me over. Or I invited myself over, or whatever.” Harry said when he was finished eating, wiping his hands off on his jeans and stretching his arms up over his head. 

“Yeah, of course. I mean, you’re welcome to come and hang out whenever you want,” Louis said, closing the top of the pizza box, his eyes flicking over to Harry who was standing up and retrieving his pig that hand wandered off through Louis’ room. 

“I won’t keep you. I’ve got a class this afternoon and I’ve got like a couple big assignments to work on, so I guess I Should focus on doing that a little bit, shouldn’t I?” Harry asked, carefully making his way towards Louis’ door, slowly enough to make it seem like he was waiting for something. 

Louis pushed himself up from the floor, adjusting his pants on his hips and pushing his fingers flatly over the tops of his thighs to organise himself. “I feel you. I’ve got a few things to do as well, I guess.” His voice was soft as he spoke and he made his way over to stand right in front of Harry, his eyes shifting up to look at the boy in front of him. 

“I hope you have a good afternoon and I’ll see you again really soon, if that’s okay.” Harry spoke, almost nervously before ducking down, and pressing his lips to Louis’. The kiss was quick, almost too quick to even give Louis a chance to kiss back. 

Louis was taken back, surprised by Harry’s kiss and it was just as quick as Harry had kissed him as the younger male was pulling the door open and slipping out through it, leaving Louis with the fingers of his right hand pressed to his lips and his eyes wide, watching as Harry left. It wasn’t that Louis didn’t want to kiss Harry, he definitely did, he just wasn’t expecting for it to happen like that, right then. Even more, he wasn’t expecting Harry to turn and walk away just after. Actually, Harry had a great track record of leaving Louis speechless and walking away. Maybe it wasn’t late enough, but Louis’ brain was spinning around in 4 different directions, so he decided just then, that a nap was definitely in order. If he dreamed about the taste of Harry’s lips on his, that wasn’t anyone’s business but his own. 

… Saturday … 

“Come on Niall! We have to go to the footie game!” Harry said, tugging down on the hem of his newly purchased uni shirt, a matching uni scarf tied tightly around his neck and Harry was literally bouncing on his toes from excitement. 

“You would think we’re playing in the World Cup,” A sleepy Niall said, shoving his fingers through his hair and giving it a gentle tug before making his way to the bathroom to get ready for the game. 

Louis was in the locker room, next to Liam, his stomach a flutter and his hands tapping anxiously on his knees. “I am nervous about the game. I’m nervous about my knee,” Louis said his left hand subconsciously stopping to rub gently over his knee. 

“You’re gonna be fine mate, you’ve gotta just take it easy.” Liam advised, busy adjusting his socks over his shin guards and then sitting back up, his face left slightly red from his previous position. 

“Yeah, I know, I’ll be okay.” Louis confirmed, reminding himself of something their coach had mentioned about positive minds and positive bodies -- or something. “Harry said he’s coming.” Louis added, in what he would argue was a nonchalant tone, but in reality, it came across as more eager and excited. 

“Have you asked him out yet? Or like are we just pining over freshers from afar? I could probably get behind that movement.” Liam joked, lifting his hand to elbow Louis in the side before standing up from the bench. 

“He’s one of my residents!” Louis defended, his hands falling to either side of himself on the wooden bench, curling around the lip as he pushed himself to stand up, his arms stretching over his head as he did. 

Louis was careful to never say he had a perfect game. It seemed like, the moment that you said you had a perfect game everything would go wrong and the elusive perfect game would just be an idea in your head. Which is why, right now, Louis kept reminding himself that he was just having a really good game - there wasn’t anything perfect about it. It was just good. The scoreboard and the cheers from the crowd signaled something else, something more like, the team was having a perfect game. 

He wasn’t sure how it happened and when he looked back on it, he really wouldn’t be sure what even happened, but somehow, Louis ended up in a heap on the grass, his hands clutched around his right leg, pulling it to his chest and his vision covered with stars. His breaths came in short gasps and it took even a moment for Louis to realise he was hurt. To realise that his knee felt like it had just been run over and god. Not only was his game ruined, but Louis was certain he might not be even be able to get up from this. 

For Zayn, the game had been boring so far, amounting to just fixing a few ankle wraps, checking a few knees until now. Until Louis was curled in on himself in the middle of the pitch and there was something sinking in Zayn’s stomach almost immediately, he knew this wasn’t good. Along with the school’s trainer and another student trainer, Zayn jumped up, jogging across the field to Louis, immediately kneeling down right in front of his face and looking at him. 

“Louis.” Zayn said, studying the boy’s, who still looked dazed, face. “Are you with us mate?” He asked, his voice careful. 

Louis nodded. He wanted to open his mouth and speak but there was something that told him if he opened his mouth the only thing that would come out was a choked sob and he really didn’t want to be in that state in the middle of the pitch. 

There was a flurry of trainers and players and what felt like a lifetime later, Louis was upright, his arms hooked around the team trainer and the other student trainer, Zayn trailing behind them as they made their way off the field, Louis’ leg bent at the knee and not touching the ground at all. 

Louis wanted to scold himself for letting himself even have the second thought of a perfect game, but fortunately he was too focused on staying upright to beat himself up over it too much. 

If it wasn’t obvious to everyone sitting within a square meter of Harry that he was completely fond of Louis, when Louis ended up on the pitch, definitely hurt, Harry couldn’t make himself sit down. “Oh god, Niall. I have to go check on him.” Harry said finally, when Louis was nearly off the field. 

“Don’t think you can just chase after him though, mate. Like. Dunno.” Niall said and if his better judgement was clouded by the few pints he had drank it really wasn’t his fault. 

“I am going. I’ll be back. Or I’ll see you at the room.” Harry said, nearly tripping down the steps to get out of the crowd to go find Louis. Well, to follow after Louis.   
When Harry caught up to Louis, they were pulling the door open of the locker room and leading him inside and Harry ducked his head down and stopped near the boy holding the door open in an attempt to follow him inside. 

“Can I help you mate?” Zayn asked, looking up at the out-of-breath, curly haired boy who was attempting to peek through the door as Zayn shut it. 

“I was just going to go inside to check on Louis.” Harry said, and although the door separating him from Louis was closed, he bounced up on his toes a little as if he would be able to see something. “He’s my.” Harry’s voice faltered when he started, his eyebrows furrowing together, “he’s, um. Well. It’s just. He’s my RA. I need to check on him,” He finally stumbled over his words, his eyes settling on Zayn with a firm furrow in his eyebrows. 

Zayn’s returning look to Harry could only be described as incredulous because really? “Sorry about that mate, I’m not going to let you in,” He said, shaking his head and twisting his hand on the door. “You can see him later tonight or something.” He added with a shrug, pushing the door open and slipping it shut, the door shutting in Harry’s face. 

Harry immediately reached for the door handle and of course, it was locked so he cursed himself quietly for not having something better to tell Zayn. He just wanted to check on Louis and now the boy who had shut the door in his face was going to tell Louis there was some fresher waiting outside for him. Slinking down against the floor, Harry stretched his legs out in front of him and decided he would just wait it out. 

Twenty five minutes later and Harry decided he wasn’t one for breaking and entering, but if someone so happened to open the door and Harry so happened to slip in, that was just entering and that was okay. When two of the people who had escorted Louis off the field walked out, Harry reached over, sitting a rock at the opening of the door so that it wouldn’t close all the way. Waiting silently for a moment, Harry finally pushed himself up, all limbs and taking a moment to find his balance before stepping inside and pushing the rock off to the side so the door would close behind him. Harry jumped when the door clicked shut, his fingers moving up to play in his hair, pushing his curls back from his forehead and he began to slowly make his way down the hallway. 

The building wasn’t huge, so it didn’t take long for Harry to see Louis, sitting on a padded bench, his hands on either side of him, knuckles white where they dug into the vinyl material of the seat. His eyes following down, Louis’ leg looked like it was submerged down in a gigantic silver bathtub and Harry took a deep breath before entering the room. “Louis are you okay?” Harry questioned, his voice a bit shaky as he stepped around the table to find that yeah, Louis’ leg was submerged in a bath of sorts that was filled with what looked like ice water and ouch Harry thought. 

Louis’ eyes flicked open at the voice, his head tipping to the side slightly, his mouth opening to speak before he was interrupted. 

“What are you doing in here? I told you you weren’t allowed in here,” Zayn’s voice spoke behind Harry and there was almost a hint of annoyance in his voice. 

“I told you I needed to see Louis! I needed to check on him,” Harry squeaked, his focus shifting from Louis to the boy standing behind him who definitely looked annoyed. 

“It’s not your job to check on him,” Zayn said and his arms crossed over his chest as he looked from Louis to Harry. 

Harry’s stomach sank at that and he couldn’t bring himself to look back at Louis. He hadn’t really entertained the idea of Louis having a boyfriend already, but Zayn was making Harry feel more and more like it. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I --” Harry paused and glanced at Louis who was looking down at his knee. 

“Zayn, mate, it’s fine. Harry lives on my hall. He’s alright,” Louis finished for Harry before carefully tapping his hand on the bench next to him. “Come sit and relax.” Louis said to Harry before nodding his head slightly. 

“Fine. I’ll be back in ten or so to get your leg out,” Zayn said with a nod towards the bath before finding his way out of the room that may not have been small, but at the moment felt way too small for the three of them. 

“Why does he hate me?” Harry asked quietly, finding his way up onto the bench next to Louis, his feet crossing at the ankles. 

“He doesn’t hate you. He’s just protective of me, I guess.” Louis said with a shrug, wincing a little when he bumped his heel against the wall of the stainless steel bath. 

“Does that hurt a lot? I mean, I guess it’s really cold,” Harry said worriedly, biting down on his bottom lip and frowning at Louis’ leg before looking back up at him. “I’m sorry you got hurt. You were playing brilliantly. I mean, it doesn’t mean much for me to say that because I really don’t know a thing about footy.” Harry spoke quietly, his cheeks pinking at the confession. 

“It’s not so bad, I guess you get used to it,” Louis said with a shrug, smiling over at Harry. “Hey, in a few I’m going to have to go meet the team in the locker room. Will you wait outside for me and we can walk back together?” He reached up and pushed his fingers through his hair, willing himself not to think about one of two things. The first being Harry’s lips and the second being the pain in his knee. 

“Yeah, of course. I’ll carry your stuff back for you,” Harry said with a quick nod. He pushed his fingers over on the bench just enough that his fingers brushed over Louis’ gently and he smiled softly. “And I’ll bring food back for you so that you don’t have to go out and eat,” He said nudging his fingers against Louis’ before pulling his hand back. 

“Alright Lou, lemme get your leg all wrapped up and get you over to the locker room. It’s time for you to head out, mate,” Zayn said, addressing Louis first and then turning his attention to Harry who was already scooting down off the bench. 

“I am actually gonna wait outside for Louis in case he needs help carrying anything back, so if he does could you just bring it out to me?” Harry had put on his nicest voice, his lips turning up at the corners and his smile spreading over his face as he ducked out of the room and found his way back to the door he had entered through. 

“He’s fond over you.” Zayn said pointedly when Harry was finally out of the room. 

“Don’t think so, really.” Louis said with a shrug, although he wanted nothing more than for Harry to be fond over him. “Think he’s just a silly fresher. Maybe with a crush.” 

“It’s not a crush. He’s fond. If he hurts you, I’ll hurt him.” Zayn’s words were firm as his hands worked quickly, moving Louis’ leg from the bath and drying it off. 

“I’m fond.” Louis pointed out as if it were a defense to Harry’s feelings before he shrugged his shoulder slightly. “He’s gorgeous. He’s got a pig.” 

Zayn paused from where he had Louis’ leg halfway wrapped up and looked up at him, eyebrow raised, “I’m sorry, what?” He asked, his tone incredulous. 

“A pig. Like staying in his dorm with him. It’s how I met him. He lives on my hall and his pig escaped.” Louis explained carefully, his tone dropping slightly as if he were trying to keep a secret between himself and Zayn. 

“Interesting.” Zayn was doing nothing more than taking inventory of everything Louis said about Harry, filing everything away in his head to judge Harry later over it. “Come on, I’ve got you crutches because it’s really best you don’t put any weight on that,” He said with a nod towards his knee. 

“Thanks mate,” Louis said carefully getting down off the bench and settling himself on the crutches Zayn placed under his arms before following Zayn down the hall to meet the rest of the team in the locker room. 

Harry had pulled his phone from his back pocket, sinking down into the grass to wait for Louis. When he unlocked his phone he had a string of messages from Niall, all at different stages of wondering what the heck was actually going on with Harry. Harry laughed softly at the messages before leaning back against the wall and deciding to message Niall back. 

Harry: I absolutely am not having sex in the locker room. 

Niall: what about that hot guy that was helping him? with the tattoos? 

Harry: Okay. He’s not hot. He’s like a guard dog. He slammed the door in my face when I tried to get to Louis. But I snuck in after. I am waiting for him to be ready to walk back. 

Niall: totally is hot. did he ask u to? 

Harry: Yeah, he did. I am not just waiting around because I am a creep. 

Niall: right and following him to the locker room wasn’t creepy either mate. 

Harry: Shut up, I didn’t ask you. Will you feed Squeakers when you get back? Make sure he uses the bathroom too! 

Niall: sure yeah. i’ll see you later. 

Harry smiled down at the message before locking the screen and tossing his phone from one hand to another. A shiver went through his body and he wished for a moment that he would have decided on the uni jumper rather than the short sleeves, but he would just have to remember that for next time. 

As the door opened and players started filing out, Harry twisted slightly so he could look over, looking for Louis or Zayn and he nearly jumped out of his skin when a large hand clapped down on his shoulder. 

“Are you Harry?” Liam asked, giving a firm grasp to Harry’s shoulder before pulling his hand back. “Louis asked me to come get you.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I am Harry.” Harry replied, scrambling to his feet in a mess of limbs that nearly made him end up on the ground again. He slowly regained his balance before looking up at Liam with a blush on his cheeks. “Sorry. Was just like sitting down for a while and stuff,” He explained, attempting to make his impossible clumsiness okay. 

“No worries, mate.” Liam said with a grin, “Come on in and I’ll get you to him. He said you were gonna carry his stuff or summat. You oughta just make him carry it himself though. He’s a lazy one, that Tommo.” 

“Tommo?” Harry said almost confusedly, shrugging and then biting down on his bottom lip, “He’s hurt though, you can’t actually make him carry his stuff.” His cheeks flushed as he spoke, following behind Liam with an excited bounce in his step. 

“That’s what we call him. Because of his last name.” Liam explained, giving Harry a look that conveyed something between confusion and annoyance. “Just pop right through there, he’s probably sitting in there whining about something or another,” Liam said with a fond laugh before pushing the door open and letting Harry through. Rather than following the boy through, he figured Harry could take care of Louis from there so he turned to make his way back out of the locker room. 

Harry jumped when the door clicked behind him, rubbing his hands over his jeans slightly and walking through the locker room until he found Louis, sitting down on the bench with his legs stretched out in front of him, the crutches next to him. He quickly made his way over and sat down next to Louis, “You’re on crutches? Is it really that bad? Is it broken? What’s going to happen?” Harry couldn’t help the questions that were rolling off his tongue, his nerves building up and showing through his rambling. 

“If you could just,” Louis started, reaching over to grab Harry’s face and hold it still, “If you could just shut up for half of a second, please.” He said, scooting himself over so their bodies were flush against each other and leaning up to press their lips together in a soft kiss. “I’m fine, yeah. Just need to keep the weight off of it for a bit,” He said pecking Harry’s lips again. “You’ve gotta stop freaking out though,” Louis said with a laugh, reaching for the crutches and pulling them closer to him so he could stand up again. 

“Sorry.” Harry said sheepishly, pressing his fingers against his lips where Louis had kissed them, sucking in a soft breath as he stood up and grabbed Louis’ bag. “Sorry. You kissed me. So like you’re not mad at me for kissing you the other night.” He said, pulling the strap of Louis’ bag over his shoulder. 

“I’m mad at you for kissing me and running off, but honestly, I’m really not mad at you otherwise,” Louis said, laughing softly and wincing as he adjusted himself on his crutches. 

“I just didn’t want you to yell at me, so I thought it better to just make my getaway,” Harry explained, walking back through the locker room ahead of louis so that he could hold the doors open for him. Once they were outside, Harry took in a deep breath and turned back to look at Louis once they were through the door. “Did Zayn give you any medicine for pain? My mum packed me a first aid kit and I think there’s a paracetamol in there. I could get it for you.” Harry said with a nod, fishing through his pocket and retrieving his room key. 

“Of course she did,” Louis said, more amused than anything. “I would imagine any mum who would pack their son a piglet would also pack him a fully stocked first aid kit.” He couldn’t help the laugh that filled his chest, his face twisting up into a smile as he looked over Harry’s face. 

“Heeeey, my mum is great,” Harry curled his fingers around the strap of Louis’ bag and furrowed his brows together as he spoke, “She wanted me to be prepared. I’m not sure what the piglet had to do with preparedness, though.” He was almost thoughtful as he spoke, as if he had never given thought to the idea that it was more than a bit strange that his mum had sent him off to uni with a live piglet. 

“Never go hungry if you’ve always got bacon around, will you?” Louis’ eyes were focused on the ground, focused on the steps he was taking with the crutches but his smirk was visible even through his words. 

“I am not going to kill Squeakers! I would eat Niall first!” Harry raised almost an entire octave, his scowl setting on Louis who wouldn’t ever even see it. 

“Right, well that makes me trust you a whole lot more then,” The joke was apparent in Louis’ voice and he paused as Harry opened the door to their hall for him, making his way slowly inside and greeting the other RA who was sitting at the front desk. 

When they finally made it up to Louis’ room and Louis was settled on his futon, bottle of water and medicine in hand, Harry settled down next to him, scooting close enough that he could comfortably lay his head on Louis’ shoulder, his eyes closing when he did. 

“Thanks for coming to check on me,” Louis finally said after taking his pills and putting the bottle of water down. “I didn’t really expect you to even turn up at the game. So I don’t know, I just appreciate it.” 

“I’m fond of you.” Harry blurted out, his cheeks immediately flushing and his fingers curling into fists at his sides, “Sorry. God. I am such an idiot.” Biting down on his bottom lip, Harry turned his focus away from Louis. 

“Hey, no. Stop. Look at me.” Louis reached over to lay his fingers on top of Harry’s wiggling his fingers down in between Harry’s. “I’m fond of you too, you know. Just have to be careful so you and that piglet of yours don’t go getting me fired from my job,” Louis laughed at the thought, although the reality of it sank deeper in his mind than he cared to admit. 

“I just feel so stupid. Because you clearly have your older friends who clearly don’t like me and I just am really fond of you and I want to kiss you. On a fairly consistent basis.” After giving up his feelings for Louis, Harry decided he may as well just lay it all on the table for Louis, not hold back at all. 

“What? Why do you think my friends don’t like you? If you’re talking about Zayn, he’s just like that because I had a bad relationship in the past. It’s more that he’s taking care of me than anything else.” Louis explained, finally getting his fingers between Harry’s and giving them a soft squeeze, “He and a few of my other friends spent ages trying to get me out of this rut after my last relationship, so they’re a little more than invested in making sure I don’t end up the same way again. Don’t think they could put up with me through it again.” 

“What about the other one? The one who came to get me?” Harry kept his eyes trained on their hands, linked together, his own fingers wiggling under Louis’.

“That was Liam. He was probably just tired, or maybe frustrated. He doesn’t have an issue with you though.” Louis leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to Harry’s jaw before smiling against his skin, “Me though, I’m fond.” He added sweetly, pressing another kiss to Harry’s jaw. 

“I’m fond too. Niall thinks I’m stupid over it.” Harry said, turning his head to press a gentle kiss to Louis’ lips. 

“Niall’s been living with a pig for months and not had issues with it, he doesn’t have a lot of credit here,” Louis laughed against Harry’s lips before returning the kiss. 

For once, the kiss shared between the two was more than just a peck, Louis’ head turned softly into it and his lips parted against Harry’s. Harry leaned easily into Louis, his own lips parting and his tongue flicking out against Louis’ lips. 

Louis moved his hand to Harry’s side, rubbing gently up and down over his shirt, his tongue coming out to meet Harry’s and he felt like he melted into the kiss, into the way Harry tasted, the way he felt, and the warmth of his side. 

Harry turned just slightly more and moved his hand to Louis’ shoulder, curling his fingers down against Louis and digging his fingers in gently, his tongue exploring Louis’ mouth and licking lightly over his teeth. 

It was a moment later when Louis finally pulled away to catch his breath, his head tipping to the side and his eyes wide as he watched Harry. “I am definitely fond of you.” Louis confirmed as he watched Harry’s face closely. 

“And I am definitely fond of you too,” Harry returned, leaning in to give Louis another soft kiss on the lips. “Do you think I could kiss you a little more?” He asked sheepishly, his red cheeks the result of the kissing and still feeling slightly embarrassed at his own words. 

“Yes you massive idiot.” Louis said laughing and scooting closer to Harry before joining their lips in another kiss, nipping down at Harry’s bottom lip before parting his lips to let his tongue work it’s way back into Harry’s mouth.   
Harry closed his eyes when he felt Louis’ lips against his, whimpering softly at the nip against his lip and immediately reacting to the tongue, opening his mouth and tangling his tongue with Louis’. Harry’s hands moved over to explore Louis’ chest, the angle sort of awkward that his wrist was bent at to let his fingers rub gently over Louis’ shirt. 

Louis turned at the waist just slightly, trying to make it easier for them to kiss, their tongues moving together and his hand moving to rest on Harry’s chest just as Harry had done to him. He carefully let his fingers drag up and down Harry’s chest, settling on his hip and giving him a soft squeeze. 

A moan escaped Harry’s throat, finding it’s way into Louis’ mouth and it really wasn’t his fault if his hips were overly sensitive. Harry curled his fingers in Louis’ shirt, giving a tug to the fabric and trying to close some of the awkward space between them. 

Louis kept his thumb pressed down against Harry’s hip, wiggling his fingers under Harry’s shirt so that he could brush his fingers types against Harry’s skin, the feeling sending a shiver through Louis’ body. Louis pulled back from their kiss, taking in a deep breath before tucking his face into Louis’ neck and exhaling quietly. After exhaling he pressed a kiss to Harry’s neck, his fingers exploring over Harry’s skin as he kissed. 

Harry dropped his head back, closing his eyes and letting a gasp leave his lips. “Louis,” Harry whined out the boy’s name, his hand dropping down over Louis’ stomach and tugging gently at his shirt. Harry let his fingers fall to Louis’ thigh, his thumb and fingers kneading in to Louis’ thigh gently. 

Louis had imagined this ending up in a bit of snogging and Harry running off for the thing as he had a track record of doing but at the moment, Harry didn’t seem to be leaving at all. Before Louis could convince himself otherwise, his hand was working it’s way down Harry’s stomach, resting just over the top of his jeans, his fingers playing at the button gently. “Okay?” Louis asked, carefully looking down as he popped the button on Harry’s jeans. 

“Okay.” Harry confirmed, still breathless, his head lifting to look at Louis and his own hand wandering to the waistband of Louis’ joggers, tugging at the elastic a little so his fingers could sneak inside of it, his fingers circling lightly over Louis’ smooth skin. 

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Louis confirmed. biting down at Harry’s neck and sucking a mark into his skin, low enough that a simple jumper would cover the mark he was leaving, but enough that it would leave a visible mark for Harry to see the next day. Wiggling his fingers down, Louis pushed the zip on Harry’s jeans, his fingers gently pressing over Harry’s pants as he pushed his jeans open. 

Harry took Louis’ confirmation and exploring hand as okay to let his own hand explore, his fingers working under Louis’ joggers and over his hands until he found the outline of his half-hard cock through his pants. Harry curled his fingers around it as best he could, a helpless whimper leaving his lips as he did. Pushing his fingers up and down over the length of Louis’ cock through the fabric, Harry began to slowly feel Louis fill out underneath of him. 

“Fuck.” Louis gasped out, his hand stilling for a moment when Harry’s hand was over him, the angle of everything slightly awkward between the two, but Louis really hadn’t expected anything less of their first time fooling around. Turning on the couch slightly, Louis ignored the pain it shot to his knee and he attacked Harry’s lips in kisses again, this time much more firm, biting kisses as his fingers pushed inside of Harry’s jeans to find Harry’s cock much in the same state as his own, hard and straining against his pants. Louis could feel a small damp patch on Harry’s pants where his precome had soaked the fabric and that pulled a quiet moan from Louis’ chest. 

“Can you touch me please, please.” Harry said, breathless between kisses as he pulled his hand back just enough that he could slip it under the elastic of Louis’ pants and if their night amounted to nothing more than messy handjobs that would be enough for Harry. Closing his eyes into their kiss, Harry paused when he felt the silky, warm skin of Louis’ cock under his fingers his breath hitching against Louis’ lips. Finally getting his fingers around Louis, Harry squeezed around Louis’ cock before giving it a tug, his thumb flicking over the tip gently. 

“Getting there, babe,” Louis said into their kiss, pushing his hand into Harry’s pants with less finesse than he had probably ever done anything in his life, although he was sure Harry wouldn’t be bothered by it. Louis immediately went for the tip of Harry’s cock, smearing the precome that was gathered there over the tip and finally wrapping his hand around the length and pushing his hand down to the base of his cock. Louis had lost almost all ability to kiss at the moment, his focus completely elsewhere and their lips were pressed almost together, just breathing into each others mouths as they each worked their hands up and down slowly. 

Harry gasped into Louis’ mouth at the feeling and it had been far too long since someone else’s hand had been on him. Rocking his hips up, Harry gave another squeeze to Louis’ cock before attempting to match Louis’ rhythm, his eyes closing tightly as he focused on the tight pull of his hand on Louis’ cock. “Shit, Louis.” Harry gasped out, his hips jerking up without warning before he wiggled them back down against the futon, his eyes flicking open for only a moment. 

Although Louis’ breaths were coming quick to him as well, his lips were parted and his expression was turned up into a grin. He licked out over his own lips, his tongue flicking over Harry’s as well as he did as he twisted his wrist the best he could to get the most amount of his hand covering Harry’s cock as he could. He knew that after this his wrist would probably ache from the terrible angle, but he also knew it was worth it more than anything else. 

Harry’s hand paused at the base of Louis’ cock for a moment, giving it a soft squeeze and wiggling his fingers some before beginning to stroke over his length again, a quiet moan escaping his lips. “I’m gonna,” Harry gasped out, leaning forward to connect their lips into a kiss that was more aggression and more teeth than anything else. Harry’s hips jerked up, chasing the feeling and all it took was one flick of Louis’ thumb over Harry’s cock to have him coming, falling apart under Louis’ hand and moaning softly. Harry reached down with his free hand to pull Louis’ hand off of him, his cheeks flushed red as he looked up at the older boy.

Louis was tempted to push Harry’s hand away so he could finish himself off, but instead he pushed his hips up, ready to have attention paid to him and he sunk back down when Harry’s hand started moving again. Harry’s thumb was pressed on the underside of Louis’ cock, rubbing in small circles as his fingers squeezed around him, Louis’ whimpers only forcing Harry to move his thumb more quickly. 

Louis dropped his head back, his mouth falling open and his orgasm felt like it took over his entire body, a shiver going down his spine and then the warmth of it spilling over him as his come spilt over Harry’s hand. “Fuck, wow.” Louis said, biting at his lip and scooting away from Harry’s hand as he came down from his climax. 

Harry looked well fucked and his smile was nearly from ear to ear as he looked at Louis. “I have a bio exam tomorrow,” Harry said softly, leaning in to give Louis a soft kiss on the lips. “And I need to check on Squeakers.” He added gently against Louis’ lips, his eyes closing as he gave him another kiss. 

“Are you running out on me again?” Louis asked incredulous, wiping his still messy hand down the front of his pants. 

“Not running out, just need to study, don’t I.” Harry said, and he had twisted his own hand up in his jumper to dry it off, “Plus you’ve got my number so it’s not like you’ll never see me again.” Harry’s voice was a little nervous as he spoke and he got up from the futon, carefully tucking himself back in and zipping his jeans before shrugging at Louis. “Just like text me or whatever, and I’ll get you food and take care of you and stuff.” He said, with a nod before turning and making his escape from Louis’ room. 

Louis really didn’t mind getting Harry’s hand on him, actually if he were being honest, he really enjoyed it, but what he didn’t enjoy was the way that Harry always seemed to run off when Louis felt like he was getting somewhere with him. Sighing, Louis pushed himself up off the futon, waddling his way to his bed (he would regret not showering later) and grabbing his laptop as he sat down. He found himself aimlessly searching the internet until an iChat message blinked in the bottom of the screen. Clicking down to the message, Louis saw Liam’s name and pulled it open before reading it. 

Liam: mate r things all good w the boy? 

Louis: i don’t know. he’s fucking confusing, whatever. 

Liam: are you feeling okay? what happened? is he there? 

Louis: i’m fine. my knee’s fucked. i need a shower. we wanked each other and he ran off like a rabbit. 

Liam: you always pick the wild ones

Louis: whatever, he’s not wild he’s annoying 

Liam: and you like it 

Louis: bring pizza, maybe beer

Liam: look at u, living on the edge. i’ll be over later mate. 

Louis shut his laptop and laid back on his bed, closing his eyes and biting down on his bottom lip as he thought about the whole situation. Maybe Harry was nervous about being with a guy, although he had mentioned he had a ex-boyfriend. Maybe Harry just wasn’t that into Louis. Maybe Louis really needed to stop thinking about Harry and stop wanting to touch him. It might’ve been that Louis was just too fond over the floppy curly haired boy and his piglet. 

The next month was a blur of seeing Harry sometimes but mostly not seeing him. Their schedules never seemed to match up and it always seemed to be just a quick greeting in the hallway, a kiss in the laundry area or exchanged texts that had become increasingly more inappropriate. Louis truly didn’t mind the banter, he actually liked the way that Harry couldn’t run away from their texts - not forever anyway. It had all amounted to Louis getting way more razzing from his mates than necessary, but he really didn’t want to push a situation that he didn’t really understand to begin with. 

Finishing his psychology paper at 1:45 in the morning, Louis closed his laptop and fell back into his bed ready to get at least a few hours of sleep before it was time to get up and go to the gym. When his eyes closed and his breathing slowly, Louis fell into a warm, deep slumber that was interrupted a hour later even though it felt like it was only a few minutes later to the sound of a banging on his door. 

“Fuck, fuck. Hold the fuck on!” Louis shouted grumpily at his door, grabbing for his classes and pushing them on his face as he pushed himself out of the bed. He trudged over to the door, pulling it open with a scowl set on his face. “What exactly do you-” Louis started before looking up and seeing the tear covered face of his favourite curly headed boy. “Harry?” 

“Louis there’s something wrong with Squeakers!” Harry nearly screeched, holding up the piglet who looked either lethargic or poorly and pressing his lips together to try and calm his tear. “He got into Niall’s bag and he ate a whole lot of pencil shavings and I think that’s he going to die and I don’t know what to do and Louis you have to help me he’s going to die.” Harry was more than in a panic, holding the pig tight to his chest and squeezing him. 

Louis blinked quickly, trying his best to wake himself up as he stumbled back into his room to grab some joggers and a jumper to pull on. “I have Liam’s key to his car, we can take him to a vet.” Louis said, jumping around as he pulled his joggers on. Slipping his feet into a pair of shoes once he was dressed he glanced back over at Harry who was still a mess of tears in the doorway. “C’mon love, we’ve gotta cover him up with something or you’ll get in trouble for having him in here,” He said softly, licking gently over his lips as he searched his desk drawer for the extra key to Liam’s car, grabbing his phone and wallet and a second jumper to cover the piglet in Harry’s arms. 

“Just hurry up I don’t know what to do if he dies. Louis he can’t die!” Harry’s voice was still a screech as he let Louis wrap a jumper around his hands and the piglet. When Louis walked out of the room, Harry followed close behind him, his eyes down to the ground, still wet with tears and his breaths coming in short, almost sob sounds. 

“Babe, just take a deep breath okay.” Louis said, stopping when they got to the lift and wrapping one of his arms around Harry, his fingers gently rubbing over Harry’s lower back in an effort to calm him as his other hand raised to scrub over his face gently. “We will find an emergency vet and I bet he will be fine. Maybe he just has a tummy ache.” He suggested, biting at his lip and leading Harry off the lift once they had reached the lobby. 

Harry had found himself a bit calmer, his eyes entirely focused on Louis as they walked out of the building. He wasn’t sure why he had grown so attached to the pig. Maybe because it reminded him of being at home, it reminded him of his family, it reminded him of Louis and losing Squeakers felt a little too close to losing all of those things for Harry’s likes. Aside from that, he just really loved animals and seeing any animal hurting broke Harry’s heart. 

Luckily for Louis’ sanity and Harry’s state they easily found Liam’s car, pressing furiously on the button to unlock the door before opening Harry’s door and nodding him into the car and shutting the door behind him before jogging around to the other side. “You okay babe?” Louis asked once he settled into the car and turned it on, pulling his seatbelt on. 

“I’m just really worried.” Harry said, his hands shaking slightly around the pig as he watched Louis flick through the GPS in order to find a twenty-four hour veterinary clinic. 

Once Louis was settled on where they were going, he pulled his phone from his pocket and sent a quick text to Liam to tell him what was going on and where they were going - he was sure Liam would be asleep and wouldn’t find out about it until he woke up in the morning but he didn’t want Liam waking up and finding out that his car was gone. “I know you are. I promise it’s going to be okay.” He spoke softly, but if he was honest, he really had no idea if the pig nestled carefully against Harry’s chest would be fine at all. 

“Don’t say that! He could die.” Harry said, moving his left hand from where it was cradling the piglet to wipe his eyes as he looked over at Louis. Harry looked back towards the road and focused on taking deep breaths to calm himself down. 

By the time they reached the vet, Harry was semi-calm, but Louis took Squeakers out of his arms as they walked inside. “Just focus on taking deep breaths, okay.” He said, looking from the pig to Harry and back again when Harry opened the door for him. 

“Mum’s gonna kill me for spending a load at the vet, I am sure.” Harry said softly, but he didn’t hesitate to make his way to the counter, signing them in and handing over what was undoubtedly his mum’s credit card to pay for the vet visit. 

Louis gave Harry a soft laugh and a comforting smile, because he was certain that someone who’s mum gave them a pig, wouldn’t be upset at them for caring for said pig, but he didn’t know Harry’s mum so he figured a comforting smile was the best he could do. 

Upon getting back to the vet and Louis rehashing the story the best he could, the vet nodded as he listened and he finally spoke. “Well, I’m tempted to say that he will be fine, but we can just give him a bit of hydrogen peroxide and it’ll make him throw up.” The vet said softly, moving around the room to get the peroxide. 

Twenty-five minutes later they were leaving the vet, a slightly more alert, yet still sleepy pig, a significantly happier Harry and an exhausted Louis. The ride back was relatively quiet and once they were back into their dorm, they loaded into the lift, a yawn leaving Louis’ lips. 

“Would it be okay if I slept in your room? I just feel tired and shaky and I’m worried about Squeakers.” Harry asked softly, managing to give Louis a sideways glance. 

“Sure love. Just don’t toss us out on the floor again,” Louis said with a laugh, knowing that more than anything it was his own fault they had landed in a heap before. “We can put Squeakers on the couch to sleep so he will be comfortable.” He suggested, fishing his key from his back pocket when the lift doors open and they walked off. 

Getting Squeakers set up in a nest of blankets and asleep took less time than Louis thought and retrieved two pairs of sleep pants and gave one to Harry. “If you want.” He said softly, ducking into his bathroom for just a moment to strip down naked and pull his sleep pants on. When Louis stepped back out of the bathroom, he was greeted with Harry’s back, and his hands carefully pulling the sleep pants up. 

“Sorry,” Louis said with a cough, closing his eyes and biting down on his bottom lip. He wasn’t sure if he should have said anything, but then he thought, seeing Harry nearly naked in his room and pretending like he didn’t probably wasn’t the best thing either. 

“Oh, no worries.” Harry said with a slow laugh, turning around and crossing the room to stand in front of Louis. “I wanted to say thank you. I know you didn’t have to help me with the piglet you know? You could have just told me to bugger off and I just really appreciate you always helping me when I need help.” 

Louis tipped his head to the side and smiled at Harry before reaching forward to tangle their fingers together. “I appreciate you too. No one has ever snuck into the locker room for me and besides, it’s easy to be there for someone you’re fond of.” His voice was soft as he spoke and his cheeks flushed just slightly. 

“Guess I could agree with that.” Harry said and with that he was leaning down and pressing his lips to Louis’ lips. The kiss was sleepy, warm and passionate, their lips parting for their tongues to meet. 

Louis had wanted more than anything to kiss Harry, to properly kiss him and this was perfect. He let go of Harry’s hands to wrap his arms around him, his head tipping opposite of Harry’s into the kiss. He licked into Harry’s mouth, mentally making himself remember every dip and curve of Harry. 

Harry moved his hands to rest on Louis’ chest, his fingers spanning out over the skin as he fingers moved up and down over his skin. Pulling back after a moment of their kiss, Harry bit his lip softly before nodding towards Louis’ bed, “Take me to bed, please?” 

Louis smiled and nodded in response to Harry, stepping back from him to turn and walk to his bed, sitting down on the bed and patting the spot next to him. “Come on then, let me take care of you.” He said softly and he knew his words were slightly loaded, but he thought that Harry was on the same page as him. 

Harry nodded and tripped over his feet just slightly as he closed the space between him and Louis, finally settling himself on the bed next to Louis, his cheeks tinted pink. “Sorry.” Harry mumbled, scooting closer to Louis and pressing their shoulders together with a soft smile. 

“No need to apologise.” Louis said softly, leaning over to press his lips to Harry’s again, his kiss a bit more determined, biting down at Harry’s lips softly before flicking his tongue out to sooth the spot he had bitten and when Harry’s lips parted he let his tongue flick into Harry’s mouth, tangling their tongues together. 

Harry reacted to the kiss, his lips parting and a soft noise escape. Scooting back just slightly on the bed, Harry attempted to lay back and pull Louis with him, their kiss only pulling apart slightly and Louis ended up on top of Harry. “Sorry,” Harry mumbled against Louis’ lips, tipping his head to the side and pressing their lips together again and carefully wrapping his arms around Louis. 

Louis shook his head at Harry, a quiet laugh escaping his lips as he settled himself on top of Harry, responding to his kiss, his hands landing on either side of Harry’s head on the bed. Pulling back from the kiss, Louis scooted down Harry’s body just slightly so that he could kiss along his neck, his eyes blinking open as he left soft kisses and nips down Harry’s neck. 

Arching up slightly under Louis, Harry’s knees fell open, letting Louis rest between his legs, his fingers grazing over Louis’ bare back. Harry’s head fell back, exposing his neck to Louis as he kissed him, his eyes closing and his mouth falling open just slightly, a soft whimper leaving his lips as he did. 

Louis wasn’t sure where this should go with Harry - where it should stop, but at the moment all he wanted was more and more of Harry underneath of him. Scooting down Harry’s body just slightly, Louis followed with his lips, kissing a line down the middle of Harry’s chest and peeking up at him after a moment. 

Harry’s head tipped to the side to look down at Louis, a small smile on his lips and his right hand moving to push his fingers through Louis’ hair, twisting them and tugging very gently on Louis’ hair. “I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, but you’re really hot.” Harry said with a soft laugh, biting down on his bottom lip softly. 

“Don’t know if you’ve ever mentioned it. You’re pretty easy on the eyes yourself,” Louis said softly, pressing a soft kiss to the middle of Harry’s chest. “If I do anything you don’t want, please tell me no, okay?” He asked, pausing what he was doing to lock eyes with Harry for a moment. 

“Yeah, course.” Harry said with a nod, his fingers working through Louis’ hair again as Louis returned to kissing him. 

Louis drug his fingers up Harry’s sides slowly, sending a shiver through the youngers body before moving to nip down gently on on Harry’s nipple, sucking it between his teeth and letting his fingers continue to graze over Harry’s sides. 

Harry was so reactive to everything Louis did, whimpering, pushing his hips up and letting out low breaths at each move that Louis made. 

Louis returned to kissing down Harry’s chest, his hands moving to tweak at both of Harry’s nipples gently as he wiggled himself down the bed further, kissing over the top of his sleep pants and peeking up at Harry. “May I?” He asked as his right hand moved down to hook inside of the elastic of Harry’s pants.   
“Yeah. You too, huh?” Harry smiled as he flattened his feet against the bed, bending his knees and lifting his bum off the bed so that Louis could pull his sleep pants did. Just after he did, Louis sat up to remove his own pants before returning to his place kissing over Harry’s hips. 

“M’gonna suck you off now,” Louis said softly before dipping his head down and lapping over the tip of Harry’s cock gently, a small pause as he waited to be sure that Harry was okay with what he was doing. 

“Yeah, yeah. Want you to fuck me too.” Harry said, the words surprising even him as his cheeks tinted themselves pink at the admission, “I mean if you want to, I would be completely into that.” 

Louis blew a cool breath out over the tip of Harry’s cock before laughing softly. “Can do. Would like to do, actually.” He added with a smile before opening his mouth to take the head of Harry’s cock into it, sucking gently and nudging Harry’s legs apart with his shoulder. 

Harry easily let his legs fall open, exposing himself for Louis and forcing himself to keep his hips from jerking up. Reaching down, Harry let his fingers graze lightly over his own hip before moving to Louis’ hair, twisting his fingers in the older male’s hair. 

Louis shifted slightly to kiss over the inside of Harry’s thigh, reaching over to his night table to search for the lube, attempting to keep a steady line of kisses, but by the time he finally returned with it he let out a huff and looked up at Harry with a soft laugh. 

Harry laughed quietly and looked down at Louis, shaking his head before curling his lips up into a grin, “You are so smooth. So smooth.” Harry said softly, poking his tongue out at Louis and biting back his laugh. 

“Oh be quiet,” Louis chided, rolling his eyes at Harry before wrapping his lips around the tip of Harry’s cock again, his mouth sliding down over the length, his eyes closing as he sunk down until the tip of his cock hit the back of his throat. 

Harry swallowed back a moan, his eyes closing and his head falling back against the pillows, his body almost vibrating at the feeling of Louis around him. Lifting his head he forced his eyes open to look down at Louis, who was looking back at him and a low moan was pulled from his chest. 

Louis pulled his head back, shifting around on the bed slightly to coat his fingers in lube, the cap of the bottle snapping shut just before he gently pressed his fingers to Harry’s entrance. Louis kept his lips tightly around Louis’ tip, sucking softly and bobbing his head just slightly as he slowly pressed a finger into Harry. 

Harry went almost boneless under Louis, his body relaxing as soft whimpers of Louis’ name left his lips. He bit down on his bottom lip to keep himself from begging for more, his eyes watching Louis and his fingers pushing through Louis’ hair lightly. “C’mon c’mon I wanna feel you.” Harry mumbled out through a whimper. 

Louis hummed around the head of Harry’s cock, sending a vibration through Harry that left him whimpering under Louis. Pulling his finger back just slightly, Louis wiggled in a second finger, working them inside of Harry and pushing them apart before crooking his fingers up slightly. 

Harry wasn’t often impatient, but right now, feeling just on the edge of completely losing it and coming apart under Louis, he was more than impatient. “Louis, come on.” Harry insisted, furrowing his brows together and pushing his hips down in emphasis.

Just as Harry pushed his hips down, Louis bent his finger just slightly more and he immediately knew when his finger had brushed over Harry’s prostate, Harry moaning lowly and chasing after the feeling immediately after. 

Louis hadn’t exactly expected Harry to be so responsive, he hadn’t expected him to want so badly, but it just made Louis want him more. Pulling his fingers back, Louis wiped his fingers on the bed before sitting up and reaching back to the night table to retrieve a condom. He hadn’t paid any attention to his own cock which was angrily hard and had left a wet spot against his stomach. Dropping his hand down to wrap his fingers around his own cock, Louis gave it a few quick tugs before letting out a soft moan. 

Harry propped himself up on his elbows, looking over at Louis and scowling at him. “Loooou,” Harry whined, poking his bottom lip out into the best pout he could manage before wrapping his fingers around the base of his own cock and giving it a soft squeeze. 

“I’ve got you babe,” Louis said softly, tearing the condom wrapper open and rolling down over his length. He reached for the lube, coating himself liberally before settling himself back between Harry’s legs and leaning down to catch his lips in a soft kiss. 

Harry arched up, trying to connect as much of their bodies as he could before kissing Louis back, his arms wrapping around him and his fingers gently pressing into Louis’ skin. 

Louis wrapped the fingers of his right hand around the base of his cock, pressing his tip against Harry’s entrance before pushing inside of him just slightly. Louis wanted nothing more than to slam his hips into Harry, but he knew that Harry’s impatience had left him not stretched properly and the last thing he wanted was to hurt him. 

Harry flattened his feet against the bed, bending at the knees and pushing his hips down a little as Louis entered him. The stretching burn feeling was almost immediately replaced with an overwhelming warmth that slowly spread over Harry’s entire feeling. His voice became a symphony of moans, Louis name intertwined with the wordless string leaving Harry’s mouth. 

Louis was certain he had never been with anyone like Harry and he was even more certain that after this, he wouldn’t want to be with anyone ever again. He had never heard anyone moan like Harry did, the sounds playing a secret song to Louis’ ears. Slowly pressing into Harry, Louis leaned down to press kisses to Harry’s lips, a soft moan landing on Harry’s lips as he bottomed out inside of the male below him. 

“Just give me a minute, please,” Harry said, sliding his hands to Louis’ biceps, wrapping his fingers around the older male’s arms and taking a few deep breaths, letting his body get adjusted to having Louis inside of him. It had been a bit since Harry had been under someone like this, filled up and even if he wasn’t going to admit that he wanted to give himself a chance to adjust. 

Louis nodded, his hands holding himself up as they were placed on the bed on either side of Harry’s head, his kisses trailing over Harry’s jaw and to his ear where he nipped gently on his ear lobe and let an exhale of warm air cover Harry’s ear. 

Harry shivered under the touch, pushing his shoulder up a little and breathing a few seconds through his open mouth. “Okay, go go, I’m ready,” Harry said finally, giving an encouraging squeeze to Louis’ biceps. 

Louis smiled fondly down at Harry, loving the way that even though he was the one being fucked, he was more than in control of the situation and Louis nodded his head once before pulling his hips back and snapping them forward again. His eyes were just slits as he focused on the rhythm of his hips, not too hard as he moved in and out of Harry. 

“Fuck,” Harry managed, his knees falling open and his back arching up just slightly under Louis. “You feel so good,” Harry’s voice was just one octave above a mumble and his eyes were wide, content and staring up at Louis. 

“Was just thinking the same about you,” Louis said softly, his breath coming in soft pants as he rested his forehead against Harry’s forehead, his hips keeping their steady pace. 

“Can you touch me please?” Harry asked gently, closing his eyes as he kissed Louis, their lips meeting in a wet messy kiss that neither of them was bothered by. Harry ran his fingers up and down over the back of Louis’ biceps, as he kissed him, his tongue eagerly licking inside of Louis’ mouth.

“Yeah, babe. You’re gonna make me come,” Louis said, leaning his weight onto his left arm so that he could free his right to wrap his fingers around Harry’s cock. All of the movement of his arms made it harder for Louis to thrust, so he nearly stilled his hips, focusing on his hand stroking firmly over Harry’s length. 

Harry wouldn’t settle for Louis being completely still on top of him so he thrusted his hips up, helping Louis to move in and out of him as he moaned at the feeling of Louis’ hand, slightly rough around him. “Lou, Lou.” Harry nearly chanted Louis’ name, chasing after the feeling of his orgasm that was building somewhere deep in his stomach. 

“I’ve got you, baby.” Louis said gently, continuing to stroke over Harry’s length, his thumb flicking over the tip of his cock one, two and three times before giving him a soft squeeze. Louis had nearly given up on moving his hips, focusing on pleasing Harry at the moment. 

“Oh.” Harry moaned out, closing his eyes as he arched up and then went boneless, coming over Louis’ hand and almost immediately shivering at the feeling of Louis working him through his orgasm. 

Louis couldn’t help but let out a soft noise at Harry, moving his hand to rest on the bed next to Harry so that he could thrust into Harry, wanting to be gentle, but his desire to reach his orgasm took over and he snapped his hips forward quickly several times before burying himself deep inside of Harry and coming. Louis collapsed down on Harry, his face burying in his neck as he panted softly. 

“Oh my god.” Harry said, breathless as he wiggled and pushed Louis back a little, undoubtedly his oversensitivity making him want Louis out of him sooner rather than later. “Let me up you big lump,” Harry said after what was probably five minutes, “I’ll get a flannel and we can go to sleep.” He said, kissing the pout Louis gave him when he finally moved his head. 

By the time Harry returned to the bed with the damp flannel, Louis was fast asleep, his breathing slow and even and his arm stretched out over the bed and Harry was more fond than he could imagine in that moment. Wiping Louis down with the flannel, he tossed it back into the bathroom before climbing into bed with him and tangling their limbs together. 

If the way Louis had tugged Harry closer and nuzzled into him made Harry realise he never wanted Louis to do that to another person he wouldn’t ever have to admit it. 

Four Years Later… 

“Yeah, come on,” Louis fussed down at the piglet, who was sitting determinedly at his feet and staring up at him. He really was more like Harry than Louis could even believe. 

Louis furrowed his brows together and resigned to picking up the pig and sitting him on the bed that Harry and Louis had shared for the last two years. 

After falling in love Harry’s freshman year of university, the pair had been nearly inseparable, but it had been only two years since Louis had finally convinced Harry to move in with him. It had taken months of convincing on Louis’ part, which he never really understood, because out of the two, Harry was definitely the hopeless romantic. 

“Now come on, Squeakers,” Louis said, close to affectionately, as he tied the red velvet-like bow around the piglet’s neck, straightening and fixing the bow loops, just like his mum had showed him. “Harry will be home any moment and if you mess this up, I will turn you into bacon.” He wasn’t sure if anyone else would find that affectionate, but that was about as affectionate as he got with the pig. 

Louis left their bedroom and headed down the hallway of the flat, piglet tucked under his arm carefully and he sat him down on the floor of the kitchen before getting out a bottle of wine and filling two glasses for each of them - Harry always wanted wine on a Thursday when he returned home from work. 

Looking up at the clock, 5:30 and just if as on cue, Louis heard Harry’s keys jingling in the door (he had a terrible problem with keychains that always gave him away) and the door opening just a moment later. 

Picking up both of the glasses, Louis walked out into the living room to see Harry who was looking from Squeakers to Louis and back to Squeakers again. 

Harry’s expression went from curious, to worried, to… was he annoyed? He was annoyed. “Why did you tie a bow off his neck? He’s going to get it off of there and choke on it Louis.” Harry said and he knew his bad day was escaping on Louis, but after years together, and years with Squeakers he thought Louis would know better. 

“I literally just put it on him, I thought he looked a little festive,” Louis answered, trying to bite back the defensiveness in his voice. “I’ve got you a glass of red, if you’d like it.” He said, sitting both glasses on the end table and looking back over at Harry. “If you’re worried, you could just take it off of him, couldn’t you?” 

“Yes. Obviously I can. I have the capability to untie a bow.” Louis frowned at Harry’s words, knowing that as of late, work was really getting Harry down but also knowing that Harry never meant the harsh things he said, and Louis never took offense to them, so it really worked out for them. 

“Oh come on baby, get it off of him.” Louis said, walking over and scooping Squeakers up off the floor and holding him up to Harry. “We missed you a lot today and we are glad you’re home.” He said smiling up at Harry. 

“Sorry Lou, I just got chewed out before I left the office today and I shouldn’t be taking that out no you, should I?” Harry said with a frown, ducking down to press a kiss to Louis’ lips. Reaching to pull at the bow, Harry pulled at the ribbon, smiling softly when it came unbowed from around Squeakers neck, “There we -” Harry paused at the sound of something hitting the floor. “Lou what was that?” Harry asked curiously, looking down around the floor before looking back to Louis. 

Right, so. When Louis had planned this he hadn’t envisioned this bit. He had actually thought Harry would see the ring hanging from the ribbon around Squeakers neck before just letting it fall to the floor. A bit of panic flashed over Louis’ face and he hoped silently the ring didn’t slide under their bookcase, which was heavy and near impossible to move. Or maybe it was just better if he pretended he had no idea, but just then he saw a glint of a sparkle out of the corner of his eye. “Uh. It was something for you.” Louis said nervously, scooting around Harry and picking the ring up. 

Harry turned quickly on his heel, eyeing Louis suspiciously, “What is it? And why did you tie it around Squeakers neck?” Harry looked for a moment like he was going to continue on his investigation but just as quick as the ring had fallen to the floor, a light bulb went off in Harry’s head. His face immediately turned soft and his left hand came up to his chin, his forefinger crooking over his top lip. When he spoke, his voice was soft, like if he spoke too loudly he would break something, “Was that? And were you going to? And I just?” Harry then flailed his hands around in a way that said ‘did I just throw a ring on the floor that you were trying to propose to me with?’ 

Louis smiled, because that, the flustered clumsy Harry was the boy he fell in love with, half behind a washing machine chasing a pig. “It is, I am and you did.” Louis confirmed with a nod before settling to one knee in front of Harry and holding the ring up. It was plain, a white gold band with a black line engraved around the middle - simple, but it said the things Louis wanted to say. Taking in a deep breath, he spoke, a speech he hadn’t prepared but was more prepared to give than anything else he had ever done. “I love you so much Harry. I love when you come home grumpy, I love when you wake up and pretend you don’t know how to smile. I love that since the day you’ve met you’ve shown me unconditional love and support and you’ve never questioned either of those things. I love that when we met, you were more determined to take care of this ridiculous little pig than anything else. I love our quiet moments and our loud moments and everything in between. I love the person you’ve made me, and if you would, I’d like you to be the person who makes me better every day for the rest of my life. I love you, Harry Edward Styles.” Louis paused to take a breath, that came out as more of a gasp before finally asking, “Will you marry me?” 

From the moment Louis had dropped to his knee, Harry’s eyes had filled with tears and his speech had only made his tears fall more quickly; not because he was sad, but because he knew that he wanted this more than he had wanted anything. “Louis, I,” Harry started, his voice shaky and rather than continuing he nodded his head furious, “yes,” he added, reaching up to dry his eyes and then reaching for Louis. 

Louis pushed himself back up from his knees and surged forward to kiss Harry, the taste of his tears on his lips. In their kiss, Louis searched for Harry’s hand to slip the ring onto it before pulling back from him and grinning. “I love you so much.” His words were solid, firm, promising and his smile wasn’t fading at all. 

“I love you too, I can’t believe this. I had no idea.” Harry was still shocked, still couldn’t believe that Louis had pulled this off without him having any idea. “There is one condition, though.” Harry added, his eyebrow raised and his fingers wiggling at the feeling of the ring on it. 

“What’s that, babe?” Louis asked curiously, his hands settling on Harry’s waist and giving them a small squeeze. 

“I’m a package deal,” Harry explained, glancing over to Squeakers, who was laid out in his bed, snoring peacefully, “Me and the bacon.” 

Louis bit back a laugh and nodded his head before kissing Harry again softly, “You and the bacon, babe. Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this xx


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